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Another
blow to the environment MOOD
STREET Town
Talk art The
city's century old library RESPONSES
TO LAST WEEK'S
refugy At home, away from home Afghan refugees seem well-settled and integrated in various localities of the city By
Shahzada Irfan Ahmed "I
don't know where Afghanistan is and how does it look like. I was born in
Pakistan and have seen my parents move from its one part to the other,"
says Saleem Khan, 15, who lives in an Afghan Similar
is the case for many other Afghan refugees who have settled down in the city
and integrated themselves with the locals. They are labourers, vendors,
shopkeepers, transporters, security guards, waiters, garbage collectors and
what not. The
Afghan refugees who are well settled here even send their children to school
and have bought properties here. Whereas the poor ones keep on moving from
one place to the other and set up temporary settlements on empty plots. They
stay there till the time they are asked by the owners of the plots to move on
or, in case of resistance, forced to do so. Many of the Afghan refugees in
Lahore have reportedly secured Pakistani ID cards fraudulently and want to
hoodwink those who want to send them packing home. Those who carry Afghan
identity are also reluctant to return to Afghanistan under the UNHCR backed
repatriation programme. The reason they quote is that overall situation in
Afghanistan is unstable and sources of earning extremely limited. In this
backdrop, The News on Sunday carried out a detailed survey of the settlements
housing Afghan refugees in Lahore and met different stakeholders. It was
revealed that according to the census carried by the Ministry of States and
Frontier Region (SAFRON) in 2005, there were 18,295 Afghan refugees in
Lahore. Since then 3,078 refugees have been sent back under the repatriation
programme and the rest face repatriation in the coming years. Riaz
Hameed Chaudhry, Commissioner Afghan Refugees, Punjab tells TNS that he knows
there are Riaz
says the government of Pakistan is issuing Proof of Registration (POR) cards
to the Afghan refugees right now. In the next step, they will be repatriated
one by one and the whole process would take around 3 years, he adds. He
agrees to the fact that many Afghan refugees are involved in acts of crime
and have criminal cases registered against them. "But most of them do
different jobs to earn their living and do not get assistance from the
government or any donor. All they get in assistance is US$100 per person when
they reach Afghanistan," he adds. The
Afghan refugees are mostly settled in Shafiqabad, Bund Road, China Scheme,
Raiwind Road and so on. Many have scattered all over the city and even
running businesses. "They have become so organised that they don't even
allow us to collect information about them," says an official employed
with the federal government. He says that on a visit to Auriga Centre in
Lahore to collect information about Afghan shopkeepers, the surveyors were
held on gunpoint and asked to leave instantly. "They are not ready to
accept that they are Afghan refugees; instead they claim to be residents of
Noshera, Charsadda, Mardan, Quetta or some other Pakhtun inhabited
areas," he says. Tracing
the history of Afghan refugees settled in Lahore, the official says that
initially 200,000 of them were settled in a camp near Mianwali. They were
restricted to an area and provided sustenance from the funds provided by
World Food Programme (WFP). "Once the funds stopped coming, back in
1995, the refugees were allowed to move freely. Many of them came to Lahore
and settled here as there are more opportunities to earn in big cities,"
he adds. Babar
Ali, an inspector with Punjab police, tells TNS that the only way to check
Afghan refugees involved in heinous crimes is to repatriate them. He says
many police operations have been carried out against them but they return
back every time after temporary disappearance. Citing the example of Afghan
refugee's Shafiqabad settlement, Babar says there are gang wars going on
these areas. "They were warlords in their own country; here they are
waging gang wars."
By
Ali Raza After
cutting thousands of trees on Canal Bank Road for constructing underpasses at
various locations, the authorities are eyeing around 2000 more trees to
accomplish its widening and remodeling project by completely ignoring the
adverse and long term environmental impacts. Different
NGOs and representatives of civil society have already reacted strongly on
the move and Traffic
Engineering and Planning Authority (TEPA) has proposed to remodel/widen the
Canal Bank Road from Dharampura Underpass to Canal View Bridge at Thokar Niaz
Baig to cope with the increasing traffic load, especially due to Motorway
traffic and the vehicular movement towards Raiwind Road. Tepa officials said
the canal bank road is the main arterial road of Lahore connecting northern
part of the city with the south and at present vigorous developmental
activity is taking place in Southern Lahore, which is connected mainly
through this road with the rest of the city. Over the
past two decades (1981-2000) the rapid growth in population and vehicles has
resulted in worsening traffic situation. Vehicle registration has increased
from 52 to over 116 per 1000 inhabitants of the city. The number of private
cars has increased over the same period from 13 to 35 per 1000 inhabitants,
so the traffic volume on the Canal Road has doubled in the last four years to
over 220,000 vehicles per day, which is almost twice the road capacity. Tepa
says this project will overcome the problem. The
proposed length of the road to be widened is 14 kilometers long. The
improvement plan involves construction of an additional road 18 feet wide
plus earthen shoulder of 6 feet wide on each side. Resurfacing, development
and improvement of service roads (all 18 feet wide), standardising access
to/from service road, construction of bus bays and shelters, development of
green areas along the road and plantation of trees are also included in the
project. Explaining
the negative impacts of the project, Erum Aftab, an environmentalist said the
EIA report itself says that some adverse environmental impacts of the project
include cutting of 1850 trees and loss of ecological habitat, which is a
major adverse impact of the proposed project. Other environmental impacts
were handling and disposal of construction waste, contamination of surface
and ground water, disruption of traffic, deterioration of air quality,
increase in noise level, impact on pedestrian bridges, safety of workers and
public and safety of pedestrians and cyclists. She said
the EIA report was prepared in haste because it lacks the long term impact of
the environmental changes going to take place due to cutting of trees.
Sampling procedure adopted to carry out the EIA was insufficient. It lacks
reliability as it was only carried out for 24 hours and did not explain
seasonal variations and other metrological factors. "The
environmental impact of the project will become worse as air pollution will
increase due to cutting of trees while temperature will rise due to increase
in traffic volume,î Erum said, adding this will badly affect health of
people on a large scale. ìIncrease in Asthma, skin infections, heart and
liver malfunctioning and spread of TB on large scale are some adverse impacts
the inhabitants of Lahore will have to face after completion of this
project," she stated. The
project was designed to accommodate private vehicles, said Mansoor Ali Shah,
an Environmental Lawyer. He questioned what the government will do after the
proposed road will be full of traffic. Mansoor
Ali Shah also questioned the eligibility of Provincial Environmental
Department of conductingt the EIA of the project and said that EPD is a
provincial department and cannot take out EIA of a project of Punjab
government. This EIA should be prepared by the federal EPD to ensure
transparency and good governance. He
claimed that over 30,000 trees will be cut and the figures presented by
Nespak are fabricated. He alleged that Nespak did not calculate the trees
during the study and rely on the data given to them by Tepa. Mansoor
Ali Shah alleged that the baseline data presented to the public was
fabricated and Nespakdid not mention the true impact of the environment on
inhabitants. He urged the authorities to go for alternative ways or any other
innovative idea instead of going for this project as now-a-days widening of
roads across the globe is being discouraged. A number
of NGOs and members of civil society urged the government to implement a
traffic management system instead of cutting trees. They said at one side the
government is running campaigns for tree plantation while practically it is
cutting fully grown trees. They
urged the government to ban entry of trucks, tractors, rickshaws and carts on
Canal Bank Road. Cyclists should only use service lanes, bus bays should be
constructed to keep the traffic flowing, increase public transport on the
road and impose speed limit, etc.
By
Aatekah Ahmad Mir 'Mind
your language,' was one advice my parents insisted on giving occasionally.
All kinds of abuses were prohibited as were certain words including the 'f','s',
'b' and 'n' words. To be honest I had no idea what the forbidden words were
or meant at that time but I knew it would be wiser not to ask. Over the years
the list of words that can only be mentioned by their first names (first
alphabets in this case) has grown considerably. Though I
try to follow my parents' golden rules, I find myself taking guilty pleasure
by secretly Last
week in my office, during a state when most of what's going on and said just
doesn't register, I overheard a male colleague saying that he could not
perform a task because "I have a commitmentphobia." Though it was
supposed to be a light, witty remark, the statement struck me. The phrase
that was coined in 1987 in New York Times bestseller 'Men who can't love'
didn't bring a hint of embarrassment. There was perhaps a tinge of what
might've been pride but certainly no sign of mortification. I don't hold it
against him but it got me thinking. Why is it that men admit, so casually,
their fear of commitment? More importantly, why is it that they are so
commitmentphobic? Why don't men understand that love and fear cannot exist
together? They should not exist together? Why are they so afraid of taking
the plunge? Rumi clearly said that one should not seek love but instead try
to destroy all barriers that one has created inside to keep love away. Despite
the fact that men might be more susceptible to the said phobia, they
certainly aren't the only ones vulnerable. Turns out that though it is
generally attributed to men, it is not gender specific. That said, since it
seems to inflict men more than women, I asked a male friend (who's also a
quasi-psychologist) why he thought men were afraid of a binding pledge.
"The paradox is that they crave what they fear the most. Love and
connection. The phobia might result from traumatic or painful events but
essentially they aren't willing to let go of their freedom or ready to assume
responsibilities. Men do love the chase but they seldom want the kill. For
some it is difficult not to be the top priority in their own lists; others
just want to have fun." With all
the political drama being scripted, enacted and staged in the country, it
seemed impossible not to draw parallels. Suddenly Romeos and romantic
relationships did not appear to be the only areas of our lives affected by
commitmentphobics. Many around me seem to be in the throes of major
commitmentphobia making it seem more like a virus that is going around rather
than a psychological condition. The Mushes, Bushes, Chaudharys, Bibis and all
the Sharif Shurafaas.seem to be afflicted by the bug. Don't think me
prejudiced. Read through the symptoms and then decide for yourself whether
you agree with the conclusion I have drawn. Severe
commitmentphobics like to feel in control and create time frames that are
best suited to their needs. They play mind games. They are evasive and lie
about what they are doing. Often unfaithful and unreliable, behavioural
inconsistencies are very noticeable in them; they become argumentative and
abusive. Some suffer personality disorders and usually spin stories to
justify their out of league behaviour. When feeling threatened about being
dumped they make promises to get better but all that they ever succeed in
doing is getting worse and worse. Sounds shockingly familiar, doesn't it and
not just in the context of the men or women in your life. Being a
nation who has often fallen prey to the cajoling of the innocent looking,
deceptive commitmentphobics, I know many tend to blame themselves. But it is
important to remember that censure is not the way to make amends. The only
way to alter the situation is to speak up and make a different choice. By
now, all of us know that the political commitmentphobics are incapable of
changing and can only serve their own interests, not us. Suddenly
my colleague's admitting to his commitmentphobia without a hint of
mortification or embarrassment doesn't bother me so much. At least he had the
courage to confess.
•Indo
Pak Punjabi Mushaira today at Alhamra Hall 2, The Mall. •
Music Programme today at Alhamra Hall 3, The Mall, from 6pm to 7:30pm. The
programme has been arranged by Oriental Welfare Society. •
Puppet Show for Children today at Alhamra The Mall at 11am. Ticket: Rs 5/10.
It is held every • A
musical comedy 'Kaun Banega Dulha' (Who wants to be the groom) at Alhamra
Hall 2, The Mall till Thursday, March 22 at 10:30pm daily. Ticket: Rs 50. The
play is directed by Riaz Akhtar and written by Qaiser Jamal • Indo
Pak Theatre Festival till Thursday, March 22 at Government College University
Lahore. Please confirm timings. Institutions from all over Pakistan and five
from India are participating in the festival. •
Anwar Pasha's Paintings Exhibition at Nairang Gallery till March 19 from 11am
to 11pm. •
Ahsen Arif is exhibiting his works at Croweaters till Thursday,
March 22. •
Punjabi Cultural Programme on Tuesday, March 20 at Alhamra, The Mall from 4pm
to 8pm. A delegation of Chinese personnel will watch the local Punjabi music
and culture program arranged by the Punjab Government.
art Seventy ways to see reality The exhibition on the International Women's Day seems meaningful, even though one tends to believe that one has abolished the classification of gender -- at least in art. By
Quddus Mirza "What
do you think of women artists in Pakistan?" The question was posed to a
visiting curator from Pakistan in New Delhi. He replied: "In the sixties
and seventies we used to have women artists, but One
remembers that during the past military regime, women artists and feminist
subjects were the main force in the art of Pakistan. Primarily because women
defied the draconian rules, fought for their rights and actively participated
in the movement for democracy. The actions, struggles and sufferings in
reclaiming the rights for women, political workers, labourers and students,
reflected in the visual arts too. By and large the women artists, with their
manifestos, organisations and body of work, dealt with the issues of
identity, gender and segregation in the society. But
after the demise of the dictatorship, the state's policy towards women
shifted, and so there was a change in the art. Now the women artists are not
marginalised as a separate category. Even if their works address feminist
concerns, they are (in most cases, the dominant and prominent) part of
Pakistani art. In our midst, women enjoy their role as the makers, educators,
writers, gallery directors and the collectors of art. Their presence can be
felt in the growing number of female students in every art institution -- the
place for preparing the future movers and shakers of our art! In this
respect, on the occasion of International Women's Day, the exhibition of 70
women artist at Hamail Gallery seems nostalgic, romantic and remote from
reality. Even though the show of these artists (some included from the Saarc
countries also) appears appropriate for its opening day on 8th March, still
the idea of gathering works of female artists under a roof is outdated and
lacks much relevance today. First
and foremost, because most of the participants are not necessarily aware of
their works being However,
the importance of the gender can be witnessed in a number of works, with
female figure represented in an ideal form. Sentiments of purity, beauty and
delicacy, associated with the women, are present in some figurative works,
while a number of artists painted female characters in various situations,
including semi-nude models. All of this reflects how the female body is
observed by women and how it has been portrayed in our art. Along
with the common subjects like figure, landscape, portraits, still life and
'abstract' composition, in the exhibition some works stand out due to the
originality of idea and the creative approach towards image making. For
instance, Fatima Saeed's print 'To the Skies we Share' alludes to the divide
of east and west. In a subtle scheme, the artist blends the buildings from
Lahore and London in a seamless manner with the sky drawn in the shape of a
planet. Similarly, Kaif Ghaznavi in her ceramics installation suggests the
concepts of fertility, explained through stylised version of pea beans. But
besides a few of these works, one notices the unavoidable presence of men
behind some of the art pieces. Their existence is betrayed not only through
the styles of husbands in their wives' paintings, but the way a man perceives
a woman is visible in the works of several female artists. Woman being a
model of beauty, posing amid a pretty and decorative environment, or showing
her Till we
keep on guessing, and our artists continue making works like these, the
exhibition on the International Women's Day seems meaningful, even though one
tends to believe that one has abolished the classification of gender -- at
least in art.
The city's century old library Dyal Singh Library is one of the oldest libraries and ought to be preserved through shared endeavours of the authorities and citizens. By
Sarah Sikandar Lahore,
despite being one of the most vigorous cities, has never been fortunate
enough to render the same share to educational activities. The number of
public libraries is one of the easiest ways to find out the general reading
trends of the society. Lahore can boast to be the hub of lavish dines but
when it comes to the number of public libraries in comparison, its rather
alarming. There
are few public libraries in Lahore. With the exception of Quaid-e-Azam
library which has Dyal
Singh Trust Library was established in 1908 at the residence of Sardar Dyal
Singh Majithia in the pursuance of his will. One of the most appraised
libraries before partition it suffered a considerable loss in Lahore riots
which damaged a great number of books. After remaining closed for twelve
years until 1964 it was handed over to Evacuee Trust Property (ETP) Board.
What follows afterwards depicts how situation went from bad to worse for this
library. According
to the library staff there are more than 4000 general members, more than 500
life-members and the student membership has exceeded 3000. The figure seems
false when you enter the library and find a very small number of people, half
of whom is the library staff. If only a 5% out of the total members were
present the place wouldn't have looked deserted. Encircled
by residential and commercial buildings, the location is not the ideal place
for a library. Once you enter the premises the noise of rickshaws and motor
calls with faint shouts of children never leaves you no matter which corner
of the building you go. Another remarkable discovery was the absence of a
female other than one of the female staff member. Wherever you look, from the
'newspaper reading' corridors to the main reading you don't come across a
female member. However, this is far from surprising if we consider the
location and the membership of the library. Located few miles from Dyal Singh
Boys College the library is hardly inviting for female members. To find
out whether the library has a particular book one has to go through the
dictionary catalogues. These catalogues are maintained for English, oriental
and other collections of the library. The task would have been much simpler
with computers. If you go through the spines of the books you can not make
sense of their location on the shelves. The library looks more like a local
government office in dire need of renovation. With old leather covered chairs
the furniture is made up of scanty and uncomfortable chairs. The
superintendent of the library said that a lot of improvements are being made
to the library structure including new computers and internet service.
Moreover, some changes are going to be made in the library's interior by
bringing in new furniture and improved lighting. The officials complained
about the lack of funds to add books to the library. The librarian said,
"the library needs more funds to improve since that is the most
important part". She also added, "new books should be purchased
often to upgrade". The
members are also not very pleased about the condition of the library. "I
don't come here a lot," says Irfan, an MA Urdu Literature student,
"but when I do I mostly get what I need". Another member Ahmed who
will appear for CSS exams next year says, "I am also a member of the
Quaid-e Azam library and I come here for some material on history only. But
they don't photocopy material other than the library." He also feels
that photocopy should be free for the members. The
library also has a research cell whose publications surprisingly focus on
topics related to Islam. Like every other department the concerned
authorities need to focus on the issues that can improve the library. It is
always better to work on the existing projects rather than introducing new
ones. Dyal Singh Library is one of the oldest libraries and ought to be
preserved through shared endeavours of the authorities and citizens. RESPONSES TO LAST WEEK'S QUESTIONS Top Ten Drives in the city: 1. Airport Road
anytime. 2. Aziz Bhatti Road in
the evening. 3. The Mall at sun
rise. 4. Mayo Gardens
anytime. 5. Along the canal
before the underpasses. 6. Main Boulevard in
the evening. 7. GOR I anytime. 8. Circling around
Model Town anytime. 9. Walled city on
Sunday mornings. 10. Sundar Das Road on
Sundays. To enlist by popular
vote the 'top ten' for next week, send in your emails on top ten 'Top Ten Dahi Baras in
Lahore.'.
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refugees' settlement near
Gujjarpura Housing Scheme in Northern Lahore. He says it were his
grandparents and parents who came to Pakistan decades ago as refugees. Saleem
can speak Punjabi very well along with Dari and Pashto. No one can tell from
his appearance and diction that he comes from the other side of the border;
even many of his friends in the area think he belongs to the northern part of
the country.
Afghan refugees in the city who have not yet registered themselves.
"We have issued them final warning. In case they do not get registered
by April 15, 2007, they will have to face a massive crackdown and dealt with
strictly," he says. 
expressed serious concerns over the Environmental Impact
Assessment (EIA) report of the project and claimed that it completely ignored
the long term environmental impact on the weather and inhabitants of Lahore.
indulging from time to time. To be honest, there's no better or
quicker way of letting one's anger and frustration out. I have a few
favourites. There are many that cannot be discussed, at least not publicly
and then there are those that produce very interesting reactions when
uttered. One of them is the 'C' word. C-O-M-M-I-T-M-E-N-T. Do I see many,
especially men, cringing? 
Sunday morning. 
thank God we don't have them
anymore. Now we have artists only". The answer, uttered like a jest, was
a comment on the state of art in Pakistan and its connection with the gender
issue. 
collected and shown under the category of women artists. In
reality the exhibition, curated by Nusrat Jamil, consists of works that are
part of regular display of gallery. Hence, apart from the fact that these are
works of female artists, the exhibits do not convey any link to the theme of
the show. 
body to the viewers, is observed in the works of many participants.
Actually this type of representation is inspired from the male artist's
treatment of female as an emblem of love and lust. An example of this can be
seen in the large scale paintings of Moazzam Ali and Tariq Javed, hanging not
far from the canvasses by the women artists. In these paintings females are
depicted as attractive and smart nomadic girls, dressed in tight and
revealing clothes. It betrays the stereo typical perception/representation of
women by the male artists. This way of looking at women is evident in the
painting of Saeed Akhtar too -- displayed in a room close to the space
allocated for the exhibition of women artists. In this work a woman of
proportionate figure is standing almost naked (even though a piece of
transparent fabric is stretched on her body), with birds flying around her.
The painting is hung next to a sculpture piece with a man on horse, holding a
gun. But from a certain angel in the gallery, the two works appear connected,
and one is unable to decide whether the man is about to shoot the birds, aim
at the naked girl or going to kill the voyeuristic viewers. 
recently seen some development (which is apparent only
through the interior decoration) other public libraries need a lot of
improvement. Dyal Singh Trust Library is one. 
